Peterson's interview begins at 2 p.m. Follow the question and answers in the
comment section below and leave a comment yourself. The first interviews were at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and the last interview is at 3:30 p.m.

A public "meet and greet" follows the four city manager finalists'
interviews from 5-6:30 p.m. with the candidates at Muskegon City Hall,
933 Terrace St. The city commission has a special meeting Wednesday, July 31
at 5:30 p.m. to make a decision on the city manager selection.

Peterson has been the city manager of Springfield, Mich. since 2007. He has been involved with the city’s Economic Development Corp., Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Board and the Springfield Planning Commission.

Prior to Springfield – a 5,234-polutation city just west of Battle Creek – Peterson was city manager of Grant from 2005-2007 and planner and project manager for the city of Lafayette, Ind. from 2004-2005.

Peterson won the 2012 Battle Creek Future 15 Award, recognizing young professionals by the Battle Creek Area Chamber of Commerce expecting to make a large impact on the community in the next 15 years. In 2012, he also received a governor’s appointment to the Michigan Board of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery.

He lists his accomplishments in Springfield as including a joint service agreement with Pennfield Township for assessing services that has saved the city $400,000 to date. He also has helped attract PulverDryer, USA’s world headquarters to the city, which will bring 150 corporate and manufacturing jobs to the Springfield.

“Helped improve transparency and community involvement by greatly improving the usability and content of the city’s website, bi-monthly newsletters, and having an open-door policy for all residents, business owners, staff members and council members,” Peterson stated on his resume.

Peterson has a master’s of public administration from Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s of arts degree from WMU in 2002. He had a public interview for the Saginaw County controller position in December and has an interview scheduled for city manager of Port Huron early next month.